Women need women
To help raise our babies

I remember those times
Alone with two sucklings
Walking the boy back and forth in the fog
To ease his wheezing
Holding the girl in the hospital bed
While the tubes fed her veins

My brain cells felt dead
Nipples cracked, bled
gut cramped so bad
I crawled from the bed
“What do you want me to do?” the man said
But it wasn’t his fault

I left eventually
Looking for love
Looking for help
Looking for peace

All I needed twelve years ago
Lilly Was you

***

Part I.
It was immediate
The download
I listened to her speak
Spinning stars and flecks of gold
Awestruck
Watched her move through the room
Whirls of pale pink in her wake
I needed her
For life

Part II.
She needed me too.

Part III.
We travel to emerald islands,
Swim in indigo seas
Exhale fire
Stand in the soil
And lie on velvet black couches
in our chenille robes
Drinking chamomile tea
Speaking across the ethers